McArthur rode out the ups and downs of a difficult regular season schedule.

The experience is paying off once again in the playoffs.

The Mustangs stood tough in a clutch situation Thursday night and held off host Mater Academy in the closing seconds for a 56-55 win in a Region 4-8A boys’ basketball quarterfinal.

McArthur, a .500 team in mid-January, won its seventh game in its past nine and eliminated Mater in the regional playoffs for the second consecutive season.

The Mustangs (19-14) will take on either district foe Nova or Goleman on Tuesday in the regional semifinals. McArthur has lost two of three previous games this season against Nova including last week’s district final.

“We played games against the best teams in this county,” McArthur coach Warren Gale said. “We’ve been struggling offensively the past couple of games and with some injuries. But getting all our players back tonight was huge. To watch those kids defend the way they did on the last possession, that’s what championship basketball is all about.”

In a game that had 15 lead changes and went back and forth in the final two minutes, senior Kheron Milwood’s layup with 14 seconds left gave the Mustangs a one-point lead.

Mater called a timeout with 3.2 seconds left to set up a game-winning shot. The Lions (16-7) got their shot when Matthew Tanis got an open look from three. But his shot bounced off the rim as time expired.

Milwood finished with a team-high 14 points and his go-ahead score came nine seconds after Malcolm Nicholas had given Mater a one-point lead. Nicholas finished with a game-high 20 points.

Ralph Bissainthe also scored 12 points for McArthur and Noah Brown added 11 including three clutch three-pointers in the third quarter that brought McArthur back from a five-point deficit.

Brown missed last week’s district final to attend his grandmother’s funeral, and also lost his grandfather this past season.

“Both passed away within three weeks of each other,” Brown said. “I know they were smiling watching over me tonight out there.”

“This is the greatest game I have ever been a part of and coached,: said Coach Marcos Molina. “In all my years coaching I never been a part of a greater game.”

Palmetto didn’t lead at any point in the game till the fourth quarter at 1:52 minute mark.

The Panthers were led by junior guard Mikal Starks who scored the go ahead basket twice in both the end of regulation and in double overtime before the Coral Gables Cavaliers tied them twice in the final seconds.

“Starks was incredible today,” said Molina. “He has been the MVP and the leader of the team since coming back from his injury.”

Polite was expected to dominate the guard matchup but it was the 5-10 Etienne who stole the spotlight, Etienne scored 12 points, hit two big shots early in the fourth to help the Eagles keep a tenuous lead and took on the unenviable task of guarding the 6-6 Polite for most of the game, holding Polite to a season-low seven points.

It was a far cry from the first meeting between the 5A powers on Jan 24. when Polite torched the Eagles for a game-high 27 points in the Scots’ 66-58 come-from-behind victory at Calvary.

“Polite is hard to defend,” Etienne said. “He is bigger so I try to use quickness to my advantage. To get underneath him so he couldn’t score much. We played a zone the first time so that kept him going. Once we played man tonight it was hard for him to score because he always had somebody on him.”

Calvary’s lack of late game execution in recent losses to University School and Miami Christian casted some doubt on their state championship pedigree but the Eagles (20-5) changed that conversation on Thursday, setting up a revenge match against University School in the Regional semifinals on Tuesday.

Jammy Pierre-Louis’s second three pointer tied the game 39-39 with 2:05 left in the fourth quarter but the Eagles wouldn’t flinch this time.

Victor Uyaelunmo made both free throw attempts to put the Eagles up for good before Polite missed a layup with 1:28 left. Etienne, the Eagles’ emotional leader, added two free throws and Jerald Butler (7 points) swatted Alejandro Ralat’s shot with 57.1 seconds left to preserve a 43-39 lead. Butler then showed his emotion with a fist pump and scream.

Eagles coach Cilk McSweeney’s game plan was to keep the game at a slow pace, which would benefit his NBA size front line and keep the Scots (25-3) out of transition. The decision proved masterful as the Eagles were content to take a 7-4 lead into the second quarter and never allow the Scots to speed up the game.

Calvary made sure that anybody but Polite was going to beat them, opening the door for Ryan McAdoo, the son of NBA Hall of Famer Bob McAdoo, to tally a team-high 12 points.

“We lost on this floor by three points last year so I told them to always remember how that feels,” said McSweeney. “We were always ready for this. We knew we would face them again. We ended up getting them back. To hold down Polite like that is amazing. My two guards Etienne and [Angel] Lebron defensively were amazing. Kudos to them.”

Norland (20-6) raced out to a 22-8 lead before Belen Jesuit’s Javy Torres de Navarro buried a triple with just over five minutes left in the second quarter. But Norland outscored the Wolverines, 8-0, over the remainder of the quarter until JC Carillo sank two free throws for Belen (18-10) a second before halftime.

Torres de Navarro had 13 points, five boards and four steals. Carillo had six points, five rebounds and four blocks.

Matthew Bravo tripled to pull Belen within 36-21 in the third quarter, but Norland’s Dejahn Ford buried a 3 of his own to extend the Vikings’ lead back to 22 with 1:05 left in the period. Norland, which moves on to Tuesday’s regional semifinals, coasted the rest of the way.

Kennith Rolle had nine points, and Cardinal Brown five rebounds and three steals for the Vikings. Mo Milton scored eight for Belen.

Coach Robert Doctor was without Dawson’s fellow OK State signee Latravian Glover, but the lack of this other star performer didn’t seem to matter as South Miami coasted to an easy victory. Doctor credited the team’s “resilience and impressive defense” for the victory.

▪ Region 4-5A Quarterfinal: Mater Lakes 84, Key West 74: The Bears (20-6) won their first-ever regional playoff game led by Cyrus Largie’s 31 points and 13 rebounds. Jurik Morales had 21 points and five assists and Donovan Alvarez had 13 points. Mater Lakes will travel to play Gulliver on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the semifinal round.